Disclaimer- I may be delusional, but not that delusional.
AN- This one seems to be a little on the long side…let's hope at least some of it is entertaining.
Sick Day
"Aaa…"
"Aaa…"
"Aaah-Choo!"
"Bless you."
"Danks."
Kagome reached beside her and plucked another tissue from the box laying on her nightstand. She blew her nose loudly before crumpling it up and dropping it into the trash can on the floor. Flopping her head back onto her pillow, she gave a little groan and closed her eyes.
"Shood me."
"It's your own fault. You should know better than to run out in the middle of the night wearing a t-shirt and no shoes when it's less than fifty degrees out."
"Well, excuse me if I didn'd dink do check de dermomeder before running oud do see if you were dill alive."
"You didn't think to check what?"
"De dermome- oh shud up. And dop laughing."
"Sorry." Somehow she didn't think he really was though.
"I'm glad you find dis so amusing."
Inuyasha's soft chuckles died down as he looked at the small girl laying on the bed. As she coughed forcefully for a minute and reached for a glass of water next to her to relieve her sore throat, he felt the guilt once again creep up on him. He knew it was his fault she was sick without her having to point it out. If he had just stayed near her like he was supposed to, like he had wanted to in the first place, she wouldn't have had to run outside to look for him. But no, he had to go outside, just because it was habit. Thank goodness he hadn't gone far or else she would have been out there even longer. Who knows how sick she would have gotten then. He still couldn't believe she had been so worried about him over a silly dream. Or maybe not so silly after all. The way she had described it, he could almost believe she had actually been there to see him…that day. But that was impossible wasn't it? There was no way she could have been able to see something like that without him telling her what had happened. He was positive he hadn't told her anything about it either. So how had she seen it? His mind went round and round in circles trying to figure it out, but he only wound up giving himself a slight headache trying to figure out the mystery that was Kagome. There were just too many things about her that defied reason to put them all in order.
Some time in the course of his thinking, Kagome had drifted off to sleep again. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was just past noon. Her mom would probably be coming up to check on her in a little bit. He was glad Kagome hadn't told her the real reason she was sick, having instead fibbed and said it was probably from when she took a walk last night without her sweater. Though that probably hadn't helped either. He didn't want Mrs. Higurashi thinking he was taking such poor care of her daughter when she tolerated his presence so well. Granted there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it, but he thought she took it all in stride quite well. With a tiny sigh, Inuyasha settled himself at the side of Kagome's bed, brushing a few damp strands of hair from her forehead and noting she felt very warm. A lot warmer that before actually. Hmm, he would have to get her to take her temperature when she woke up. He didn't like the idea of her having a fever on top of everything else. Figuring there was nothing else he could do for now except keep her unconscious form company, he settled down to wait for her to awaken.
It was almost night time and Kagome still hadn't wakened up. Inuyasha was beginning to get worried. Her mother had come in to check on her several times, feeling her forehead and bringing her a new blanket when the last one became damp with sweat. He looked up as the door opened again. Kagome's mother entered the room carrying a bowl of water and a washcloth. She settled herself on the edge of the mattress as Inuyasha had done a minute before. She put a hand against her daughter's forehead and then her cheeks, frowning slightly. Setting the bowl and cloth on the night stand, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a digital thermometer. Uncapping it, she stuck the end into Kagome's mouth and wiggled it a little to find the right spot. Waiting patiently for it to beep, she smoothed back the girl's bangs from her face.
The stick gave a small beep beep and she took it out to read it, Inuyasha leaning anxiously over her shoulder to look as well.
It read 102.3. From the look on her mother's face, Inuyasha could see that wasn't a good number. Putting the thermometer back in her pocket, Mrs. Higurashi reached over and grabbed the wash cloth, soaking it in the water and ringing it out a little before wiping Kagome's face and forehead with it. Unable to stand not knowing if she going to be alright or not, Inuyasha did something that he normally wouldn't have done.
He asked for help.
Of course, Kagome's mother couldn't hear him, so he did the next best thing he could think of. He tugged on the sleeve of her shirt. She ignored him at first; probably not sure she had felt it at all. He tugged again, harder this time so that her elbow jerked back slightly. Looking over, she frowned in confusion when she didn't see anyone then turned her attention back to the bed. Growling slightly in frustration, Inuyasha gave her arm one more tug, bringing her elbow back once more. Mrs. Higurashi turned around once again, confusion crowding her features, but only for a second this time as she realized who must be trying to get her attention.
"Ahh, Inuyasha. Forgive me; I had forgotten you were here. That is you isn't it?"
He gave another gentle pull on the sleeve to confirm her suspicions.
"I suppose you're worried about Kagome too."
Tug.
She sighed at this. Glancing down at her daughter, she gave a little frown of concern. "Her temperature is a little high for my liking and I'm worried that she hasn't woken up yet. She hasn't has she?"
He gave two tugs to indicate she had not.
"No, I didn't think so. This all came on so suddenly, I can only hope it will leave the same way. If her temperature hasn't dropped by tomorrow morning though, I'm going to call our doctor."
The thought that she might need a doctor scared him a little and he found himself tugging on her sleeve repeatedly.
As if understanding his distress, she smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure Kagome will be fine. She may look delicate, but she is actually quite tough." Dipping the washcloth back in the water, she began bathing Kagome's forehead and cheeks once more in cool water.
"I remember one time when she was about five years old; she had just learned how to ride a bike. It had training wheels on it of course, but she was so proud of the fact that she could ride all by herself. Anyways her father had taken her out on the side walk in front of our house. We didn't live here then; it wasn't until my husband passed away some years later that I moved back in here with my father." Her voice had taken on a slightly pained tone as she spoke about her husband, but then she continued on in the same reminiscing voice as before. Inuyasha, sitting on the floor facing her, was leaning in closely, not wanting to miss a word.
"She was doing a good job by herself until she got to a wide crack in the pavement. The front tire got caught and twisted to the side tipping her and the bike over onto to sidewalk. Takerou, her father, was too far away to catch her, so when he reached her she was already crying. She had managed to scrape up both knees and catch her elbow on a rock nearby. She actually still has a little scar there." Here Mrs. Higurashi pointed to Kagome's right elbow, hidden under the covers. Inuyasha made a mental note to look later and see for himself. "Takerou was very upset at having let her hurt herself so badly and began to cry himself. He was a very sensitive man and loved Kagome dearly, so don't blame him too much. Well, when Kagome saw her beloved daddy in tears, she picked herself up of the ground and wiped away her tears, then threw her arms around her father and said, 'don't cry daddy, see I'm alright'." She stopped here and smiled fondly at her daughter. "Always thinking of others, my Kagome."
Shaking her head a little, she gave a small laugh. "You'll have to forgive me Inuyasha. I can be a little nostalgic at times. I hope I didn't bore you."
"No way. Tell me something else!" Inuyasha had enjoyed hearing about Kagome before he had known her. To show his enthusiasm, he began tugging on her sleeve once more. He kept pulling until she gave another laugh.
"Okay, okay. I take it you liked my story then. Would you like to hear another?" Another tug. "Alright, let me think… Oh I have a funny one for you."
Mrs. Higurashi entertained Inuyasha for almost an hour, telling him tale after tale about Kagome growing up. Some stories were funny while others would have made the girl blush in embarrassment had she been awake to hear them. He had laughed aloud quite a lot at those ones. Each time she would stop, he would give her sleeve another tug to tell her to go on. The room had become dark and as she finished another story she looked at the clock to see what time it was. At his tugs, she shook her head and stood up.
"I'm sorry dear; I have to go make some soup for Kagome now. Hopefully I can wake her up in a little bit and get her to eat something. Please keep an eye on her. Oh, what am I saying, of course you will. If she wakes up, try to get her to stay up for a little bit." With that, she picked up the bowl from the table and left the room, keeping the door open slightly.
Lifting himself from the floor he took back his post that her mother had vacated and leaned over the sleeping girl.
"Kagome."
He thought he heard her sigh slightly at her name. He leaned a little closer. "Kagome, wake up." He wasn't speaking very loud, but he could see that she had definitely twitched a little that time.
"Kaaagooomeeee." He was speaking softly in her ear now, face inches from her skin. He could feel the heat radiating from her. He briefly wished her mother had left the bowl of water with him. Glancing over to her nightstand he saw her glass of water and on an impulse he dipped the long end of his sleeve in it. Bringing his arm back to the bed, he proceeded to wipe her face as he had seen Mrs. Higurashi do. Damn, but she was burning up.
"Kagome, please wake up. You're mom is making you something to eat. Aren't you hungry? You haven't had anything all day."
But not even the promise of food was enough to wake her up from her deep slumber. He tried another tactic. "Hey Kagome, I never knew you used to collect pony stickers. You'll have to show me your collection sometime."
Nothing. Dammit, even teasing her wasn't working. Oh well, it was making him feel better though. "So you think rainbows are made by fairies huh? Personally I think the sun reflecting off of the water in the air has something to do with it. But I could be wrong."
Ah, good. She was starting to rouse herself. But still not quite awake.
"Now about those evil gnomes that live in you closet. If it would make you feel better I could start checking in there before you go to sleep. Of course if they start using those pitchforks on me, you're on your own."
"I was eight!"
Inuyasha smiled down at the sleepy looking, and somewhat discomfited Kagome. "Oh are you awake now?"
"How…how did you find out about-"She stopped mid sentence in a fit of coughing.
"About the evil closet gnomes?"
She nodded, looking a little embarrassed.
"Your mom."
At her questioning look he simply shrugged and gave a cocky smirk. Giving him a watered down version of her usual glare, she was about to say something when her mom came back in the room.
"Oh, good you're awake." Walking over to her desk she turned on the tiny book light, so that Kagome wouldn't be blinded, but could still see. "I brought you some soup sweetie. Do you think you can eat something?"
Kagome looked slightly ill at the mention of food and shook her head. "I don't think so mom."
"Well, you need to eat something, so just try a little okay?"
"Okay," she agreed reluctantly.
She tried a spoonful and decided she could manage at least a little. Remembering what Inuyasha had been saying to her, she shot a reproachful look at her mom. "Did you really tell Inuyasha about the closet gnomes?"
Mrs. Higurashi didn't even have the decency to look ashamed when she admitted that she had.
"Mom! What else did you tell him?"
"Don't you worry about that now, eat your soup."
Half a bowl later, Kagome had had enough. "I can't eat anymore. I feel sick."
"Alright. Do you want to go back to sleep?"
Kagome had already lain back down as her mother asked this. As she closed her eyes she said tiredly, "Yes please." She felt a soft kiss on her forehead before her mother turned the light back off with a quiet, 'good night'.
And she slipped back into unconsciousness once more.
And of course, she was back in the forest. Sure, why not. She was sick and feeling like crap as it was, why not see her friend get shot by an arrow and killed to boot? That would make her feel much better. Only, it seemed different this time. She looked around her. Off in the distance she saw what looked like smoke coming from a village. Now that hadn't bee here before. Not seeing anything else that might be needing her attention, she began to walk towards the source of the rising smoke.
As she approached a group of small houses that looked to be made from some very raw materials, she could see that the smoke was rising from a platform of some sort. There was a small pile of wood stacked one atop the other and as she drew closer she could see there was a body laid across the wood. It was the priestess. So, she had died and they were burning her body, perhaps out of respect? Or maybe just per her wishes. Looking closer, she could see something glittering in her clasped hands. It looked like the same thing Inuyasha had been holding before… What was it? It looked like some sort of round stone. It was very pretty, being a lovely shade of pink…
All of a sudden she felt a slight pull at her side and then her surroundings began to spin around her. Abruptly it stopped and she found herself looking at a clearing with a man standing in the middle. He looked to be in a lot of pain and was clutching his hand tightly. Off in the distance she could see an older man and a small boy. The older man seemed to be dragging the boy off, but was having a tough time of it. She heard screaming and whipped her head around to see one of the most horrifying scenes she had ever witnessed. The hand the man had been clutching was beginning to, well, she couldn't really describe it, but it seemed to be pulling everything in around it, like some sort of vacuum. As she watched on in horror, the wind around the hand picked up more and more until it began to pull in the man himself. 'That's not possible! How can that be happening?' Impossible as it seemed, in a few minutes the man was gone, leaving behind a giant crater in the earth and a very distraught little boy. The man had been pulled into his own hand.
The scenery swam again and now she was in a new village. All of a sudden a giant boomerang was flying at her from out of nowhere. Screaming, Kagome threw herself to the ground as the thing whooshed by her head and then swung back around the way it had come. Lifting her head up she saw a young girl, probably about twelve or so, watching the boomerang as it came straight at her.
"Watch out!" Kagome shouted. The girl however, couldn't hear her and lifted her hand as if to catch the huge thing. As it swung lower, the girl reached up to pluck the boomerang out of the sky. Unfortunately she couldn't control it and as soon as it hit her hand, she was knocked over and went flying backwards at least five feet, landing on her back with a pained 'oof'. Small wonder since the thing was almost twice her size. She lay there for a minute trying to get her breath back. A man walked up to her and stopped next to her. Looking down he shook his head and frowned.
"No good. Try it again."
The girl picked herself up stiffly from the ground and schooled her features to one of determination. "Yes, father." Bracing her feet on the ground the girl struggled to lift the thing above her head and proceeded to swing it around and release it as hard as she could, letting it go with a grunt.
The boomerang swung around once more in Kagome's direction, but before it could reach her, everything blurred and changed once more. She was starting to get a little dizzy from all the switching around. She was outside a large house, and compared to the other places she had seen so far, the person in here must have been pretty well to do. She heard voices inside and peeked in through a window to see what was going on. Inside a monk, a bit lower on the totem judging from his blue and purple robes, was speaking to an older gentleman. The older man looked a bit stressed out about something and the monk was waving his hand in a placating gesture, smiling confidently. She couldn't really make out what they were saying, but she heard the words 'spirit' and 'exorcise' a few times. The older man, who she judged to be the owner of the house, looked relieved at whatever the monk was saying and bowed several times before departing from the front door, closing it behind him and leaving the monk to himself. The young monk proceeded to wave his staff around in the air and chant something under his breath. He walked around the room a few times doing this and came to rest near the front window. Looking out of it he smiled happily and closed the blinds. He reached into his robes and pulled out several pieces of paper that Kagome recognized as warding talismans like the ones her grandfather used. Walking around the room once more, he placed the charms on various places against the walls, saying a little prayer each time. Stepping back to survey his work he gave a satisfied nod and reached into his robe again. This time he pulled out what appeared to be an empty sack. Now what was he going to do with that? The answer became obvious as she watched him walk abut the room one last time and placed many different objects into the sack, noticing that everything he chose looked quite expensive. Was he stealing these things? Surely a monk would not stoop to stealing from people. Perhaps the owner had told him he could take what he wanted as payment? But even as she thought it, Kagome knew that the things he was taking were far too valuable to just have been given away. A thieving monk. That was a new one to her. Now he had a full sack and was heading toward her. Backing up from the window, she threw her hands in the air and said, "I wasn't watching I swear!"
But the young monk didn't hear her; he only slid the window open and dropped the sack to the ground before falling through himself. Dusting himself off, he picked up his staff and the bag from the ground and with a quick look back at the house and a sly grin he ran off into the surrounding forest. Kagome couldn't help but notice the strong resemblance to the young boy she had seen before and wondered if they were possibly related. Her thoughts were cut short as the dizziness came back with the twirling background.
Kagome dropped to her knees, feeling sick to her stomach. When she looked up finally, she gave a little squeal of surprise. There was a giant fox right in front of her! Not daring to even breathe, she watched as the fox lay sleeping in front of her. When she was certain there was no way it could know she was there, she crawled over cautiously to get a better look. As she neared it, she could see something curled up with it. 'Aw, how cute!' It was a little child. But it was the strangest looking child she had ever seen, with tiny pointed ears and a puffy little tail coming out of its behind. Its mouth was hanging open and she could see delicate looking fangs poking out from within. 'I wonder if it's a hanyou like Inuyasha.' She couldn't really tell if it was a boy or girl. The clothes suggested a boy, but the pretty blue bow in its hair pointed to a girl. She decided it was probably a boy after all since most girlsdidn't usually sleep hanging upside down from the lap of a fox with drool trailing from their mouths. Without warning the giant fox's head came up and looked directly at her. It gave a growl of warning and Kagome immediately backed away, scuttling like a crab on her hands and knees in her haste to get away. When she was a good distance away, the fox stopped growling and put its head back down, though its eyes remained opened and trained on her. 'Weird…this must be what Inuyasha was talking about when he said animals reacted to him. No one else even knew I was there.' She was actually beginning to get bored when the spinning began again. Kagome held her head and closed her eyes until it was over.
'How many more times is it going to do this? I think I'm going to be sick if it happens again' She cautiously opened her eyes to see where she was now. She almost screamed in frustration as she saw her well beneath her and the forest a short distance away. 'All that and I'm right back at the beginning…' Now she really did feel like she was going to be sick. She knew what would be shown now. She had hoped that her unconscious mind would have been kind and skipped this particular scene for once, but then again, why would it do that. It was only her freaking mind. Why would it do what she wanted it to?
Kagome jumped off the well and darted into the forest. It was her mind darn it! She should be able to control how things went if she wanted to. She looked about her frantically, her heartbeat picking up speed as she raced through the forest, looking for any sign of either Inuyasha or the priestess. Finally she spotted a flash of red in the distance and hurried toward it, ignoring the steady pounding in her head as she ran closer to the form that was sitting on the ground. It was the priestess. She was leaning on her bow with her feet tucked under her thighs, almost as if she were praying. Kagome wanted to say something to her, but for some reason her voice wouldn't work and she was having difficulty breathing. The throbbing in her head was beginning to become more noticeable now.
"You're too late girl."
Startled, Kagome opened her eyes that had been closed briefly to help her concentrate on her breathing. Had the priestess been speaking to her? As she watched, the girl lifted her head and looked directly into her eyes. Guess so.
"Too late…?" She hoped she wasn't referring to what she thought.
The girl, (what was her name again?) pointed in front of her. Kagome turned and gave a cry of dismay. How had she not seen him before? Rushing over to the God Tree, she reached out a hand to Inuyasha, as if to pull him down.
"Don't bother."
Whipping around and ignoring the nausea in her stomach, she pointed an accusing finger at the girl sitting on the forest floor. "You did this!" The girl only gave a small nod at the charge. "Why? I don't understand…"
"A word of advice girl. Don't get too close to him. He will only betray you in the end. Just as he did to me." Kagome glanced back at the boy pinned to the tree. How could he look so peaceful stuck up there like that? It almost seemed like he was sleeping and not really dead at all. She looked back at the priestess and suddenly noticed that the front of her shirt was covered in blood.
"Oh!"
The girl smiled grimly and nodded. "This is the price I paid for trusting him. Do not be so foolish as I was, keep your distance. He may not be able to physically harm you, but there is more than one way to wound someone…"
"But… I still don't understand! Why did he do this to you? What are you talking about? He couldn't have done that could he have? Wait!" The girl was beginning to fade away now. In a few seconds she was alone again. She bit her lip and growled angrily.
'She was lying. She had to have been. Right?' Her head began to ache fiercely and she gasped at the pain. Slipping to her knees, she pushed her hands to her temples as if to keep her brain from trying to escape, which was what it felt like it was doing. The trees around her began to move in the same twisting way as before and Kagome groaned as her vision swam and her stomach gave a mighty leap.
'Oh no…'
Blessedly the spinning stopped and nothing took its place but darkness.
All night, Kagome had been tossing and turning. Sweat was pouring off her body and Inuyasha began to worry that she would soon become dehydrated. He paced back and forth across the small space between her door and window, glancing at the bed every couple of seconds. He felt so completely useless. She was obviously in pain, but there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. He had thought about waking her up again, but decided against it, knowing that sleep was better for her right now. Only, she didn't seem very restful right now. He glanced at the bed again and went to kneel by her side. Her brow was furrowed and her breathing was coming rapidly. He could hear her heart thumping in her chest like a trapped animal. No, this definitely wasn't a restful sleep. But he really shouldn't wake her… Kagome gave a little groan and whimpered slightly.
Fuck it.
"Kagome." He shook her shoulder gently, then a bit more forcefully. "Snap out of it Kagome!" Her eyes fluttered slightly and she gave another groan.
He continued shaking her and calling her name until she finally cracked open her eyes. "Inu…yash…"
"I'm here."
"I know… I…"
"What?"
"I think…"
"What, what's wrong?"
Suddenly Kagome threw back the covers and stumbled out of bed towards the door. "I think I'm going to be sick!"
Stunned by her sudden departure, he stared after her for a minute before he heard the slam of the bathroom door and, a second later, the sound of retching. Following after her he stood outside the door and waited.
"Are you okay?"
His only response was more sounds of gagging and a small moan. Bracing himself for the smell, he walked through the door to help her. He could at least hold her hair back. Oddly, no smell of vomit assaulted his nose and a quick glance to the toilet confirmed his suspicions. She was dehydrated after all. Kneeling on the floor next to the girl, he rubbed her back with one hand and held her hair back with the other as she leaned over the toilet once more and her body shook with dry heaves. Exhausted, she collapsed against Inuyasha and trembled slightly. Her eyes were closed, but he knew she was still awake from the ragged intake of her breath.
"All done?"
Kagome gave a barely perceptible nod of her head, her eyes still closed. Doubling up, she suddenly fell into a fit of coughing. This of course leading to another bout of heaves over the toilet. Two minutes later Kagome was ready to crawl back under her covers and die. Surely she hadn't done anything so bad as to deserve this?
"Kill me."
"Sorry, no can do."
To tired to feel embarrassed by the fact Inuyasha had just been witness to what was probably not one of her finer moments in life, she dragged her eyes open and brought a hand up to clear the grit from them. Her hand shook as she brought it back down to her side.
"Would you mind helping me stand?"
In response, she felt his arms snake under her legs and behind her back and then lift her in the air.
"Inuyasha!" Her voice came out in a tiny squeak of surprise. Feeling a wave of dizziness at being picked up so quickly, she buried her face against his chest and took a deep breath. Aaah. There was that smell again. She snuggled in a little deeper and inhaled again. It was so comforting.
Inuyasha stood still, barely breathing himself as Kagome sniffed him again. What was she doing? Why was she making those happy little noises? He really wished she would quit smelling him like that. His heart was beginning to pick up it's pace a little at the closeness of her and her digging that little nose into his chest and inhaling his scent like it was the best thing she'd ever smelled wasn't helping at all. It must be because she was sick. Sure, he decided, she was sick and couldn't really know what she was doing.
He heard a small sigh from the girl in his arms. He looked down and saw she had her eyes closed again and was smiling slightly. "You smell so nice Inuyasha. Makes me feel safe…"
Yup, that was definitely the fever and queasy stomach talking there.
"Do you want to go back to sleep?"
She shook her head slightly. "Bad dreams… makes me dizzy…"
Dizzy? That was a new one. "Alright, are you hungry then?"
Kagome opened her eyes and glared at him as if to say 'do I look hungry after spending the last half hour leaning over a toilet?' But that might have just been his take on it. Either way she just shook her head.
"At least drink some water."
She thought about the likelihood of her stomach accepting a drink of water and decided it would be worth the risk. Her mouth felt like someone had poured a bucket of sand in it, only not so gritty.
"Okay, set me down."
Inuyasha placed her on her feet, but kept one arm around her waist for support. Reaching over to the sink, she plucked up a small paper cup and filled it with tap water. She took a sip and coughed immediately as it came in contact with her dry throat. She filled the cup again, this time drinking a little slower. She managed not to spray this one everywhere and felt a little better as the water ran down her throat to her stomach.
Three and a half cups later she was feeling a little more clearheaded. Enough so to realize Inuyasha was still holding on to her waist and she was acutely aware of how close he was.
She cleared her throat a little and blushed slightly, though it didn't really show on her already fevered cheeks. "Er, thank you. I'm feeling a little better now." She made as if to move towards the door and found herself swept up again.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking you back to your room, that's where you want to go isn't it?"
"Well, yeah but-"
"Then let's go," he said, cutting off her feeble protest. She sighed in defeat and settled more comfortably in his arms. She was tired and wasn't really sure if she could have made it back to her room without falling on her face anyways. Despite not wanting to go back to sleep, Kagome's eyes soon closed as she drifted off once more. By the time Inuyasha laid her back in her bed and tucked her in, she was fast asleep. This time it was free from dreams of forests and priestesses.
"Well, your fever has gone down a little. That's good. I don't like the sound of that cough though. I'm going to stop at the store and get you some medicine okay? Your grandfather will be here if you need something. He should be up to check on you in a little bit." Her mother leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek before standing up. "I'll be back soon."
"Okay mom."
Inuyasha could barely hear the words through her scratchy voice. Some time around dawn she had woken up to another coughing fit that hadn't really stopped until several hours later. It was almost painful just listening to her.
It was a little after ten in the morning and Kagome was sitting up in bed with a pillow behind her back for comfort. Her expression, however, looked anything but comfortable. In fact, she looked positively miserable.
"What's up? You look like Buyo just dropped a worm on your lap."
"Ha, ha. I just don't like being sick, that's all." She coughed a little and reached for the glass of water waiting for her. "I'm going to get so behind in class."
"You're worried about your class work getting behind? Shit, most kids would love the excuse to be out of school for a few days. You really are weird." Inuyasha shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe she was worried about her homework of all things.
"Yeah well, what can I say, I love writing term papers." She gave a hoarse laugh at that and dissolved into coughs once more.
"Alright, that's enough talking. All your hacking is making my ears hurt." He looked around the room for something for her to do that wouldn't involve talking. He spotted her school books piled on her desk and picked one up. "Here, if you're so worried about falling behind, why don't you study?" He tossed the book lightly onto her lap.
Kagome picked up the book and looked at the cover. It was her algebra book. It would figure that would be the one he would throw at her. Figuring it couldn't hurt; she flipped it open and skipped to the pages they were currently covering.
Several minutes later she threw the book to the ground in disgust. The numbers kept dancing around in front of her eyes, teasing her with their elusive meaning. She was certain the fever wasn't completely to blame for her lack of understanding though. She just sucked at math.
Revising her earlier opinion of wishing she had homework to do she flashed the room a smile and asked, "You want to play a game?"
"What kind of game?" was the curious reply.
"There's a deck of cards in my desk drawer. Have you ever played Crazy Eights?"
Inuyasha got the deck of cards from the desk and went back over to the bed to kneel next to Kagome, handing her the deck of cards. "No."
She smiled, taking the cards out of the box and shuffling them. "It's really easy, here I'll teach you."
They spent the next few hours playing various card games, Inuyasha losing most of them, but managing to keep his temper most of the time. He only threw the deck once and then played the one person game of Fifty-Two Card Pick Up. As her mother mentioned, her grandfather came in to check on her, bringing a bowl of soup with him. If he seemed confused by the fact that Kagome was playing Go Fish by herself he hid it well.
Her mother came back with the promised medicine and for once Kagome was glad to take it without a fuss. It didn't taste half as bad as she remembered as a child and it soothed her sore throat after a while, making her coughs lessen. Around four o'clock her mother came up to her room and announced she had a visitor. Figuring it was one of her friends coming to check on her, she told her mother to show them up.
She straightened the deck of cards and set it on the table next to her. Sitting up, she smiled expectantly as the door opened.
"Oh… Hojo! What are you doing here?"
AN- This chapter took a little longer than I expected and I didn't get nearly as far as I wanted to. I really am trying to move things along, but man, I can be loquacious at times! You'll have to forgive me for all the drivel. I did, however, manage to squeeze in some of the other characters for those of you who wanted to see them. I wasn't originally going to include them, but I got the impression you would like to see them. They will show up again, probably near the end, so fear not if you don't see them for a while, they will return.
Q and A
Q. Raven the Shikon-Hawk- Where do you find the time to update so much?
A. Sleep deprivation, plus I have the ability to go back in time so I can do several things at once… but mostly sleep deprivation
Q. Jeanniestorm- Will we find out about the curse? It'll be broken and he'll stay with her right?
A. The curse is slowly coming to light, but I'm still working out the finer points so you'll have to be patient with me, as for the breaking of the curse… :-)
Q. Chixon- Is Hojo going to show up and make Inuyasha jealous?
A. Ask and ye shall receive…
Q. Raku-Onna- Were all the people who Inuyasha shadowed over the years Kikyo's reincarnations?
A. That's a really good question and I actually considered putting that in, but decided against it. I wanted to make sure that Kagome was unique in this aspect.
Q. InuyashaObsesses101- How are they supposed to be together if they can't even see each other?
A. Well technically, Inuyasha can see Kagome just fine, but that's not what you meant. Just give me time and I shall have Kagome come up with an anti-invisibility potion in her Chemistry class…or something to that effect. By the way, congratulations on being my very first threatening review! That 'or else' was kind of scary… ;-)
Q. Auxana- Are they possibly going to meet the rest of the Inu-tachi when or if they go through the well?
A. I suppose I could squeeze that in somewhere…